Two happy (and cool) cats at Park Guell, during our trip to Barcelona in February.

Boom! And just like that, the first 3 months of 2017 are in the bag.

But I’ve been a little silent on here. Shocker, I know. Despite this, I wanted to give everyone an update on what’s to come in the next few months. It’s major and I wake up pumped and motivated every day just thinking about it. It makes me wiggle my toes, shake my booty, and bob my head to the music.

You know why?

Because we’re going on a road trip!

That’s right party people! In just a few weeks, we’re hitting the roads and circling the roundabouts as we weave our way from Saint-Etienne through the South of France. Ever since I arrived in Aix and saw the lavender bunches one block from my school, I’ve been dying to see the fields where they come from with my own eyes. (I was a few months too late last time around!). And carpe diem, right? We won’t be in Europe next summer, so we’ve decided to make the most of our summer here.

Here’s a rough outline of the places we want to visit:

Valence

Orange

Avignon

Lavender Fields

Roussillon

Aix-en-Provence

Marseille

St. Tropez

Cannes

Nice

Monaco

Gorges du Verdon

After our southern adventure, we’ll head back to Sainte to (hopefully) meet some family here before we each make our respective voyages back to the USA. I’ll be heading back for around a month in July to gorge myself on hot Cheetos, tacos, Sonic, peanut butter, and any other trendy food I can get my greasy hands on. I’ll be visiting friends and family too…. But FOOD.

And that’s it! A summer full of sunshine and new destinations.

And of course, I’ve gotta give you a general life update.

So far, I’m finally starting to shed my homesickness and culture shock. I’ve found a rhythm to my daily life, and I feeling less and less discontent. I think this must also be a side effect of better weather recently, as well. I’m no longer bundling up in a shirt, blazer, scarf, coat, and snow boots every time I leave the house. And my daily commute by foot and bus just feels a lot more enjoyable!

We also totally lucked out by being in Saint-Etienne during the Biennale for the Cité du Design. It’s a month-long celebration of art and design hosted by the city. And the place comes to life! It’s so refreshing to see new installations fill the city, not just around the Cite du Design, but stretching to even further destinations. Despite the rain this week, we’re going to visit a few of the expositions. I’ve wanted to go for the past few weeks, but since everyone was preparing for finals, there wasn’t much time to spare.

And yes, I said finals. Today was Austin’s last day of exams for the semester. He still has a few projects left to complete, but his classes are finished… in March. I know! Crazy.

Well, that’s about it!

I will be documenting all of our adventures on YouTube, so make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing ❤.